Tournament is called off after fight

Organisers claim matches should have carried on
OLDHAM Youth Forum’s annual football tournament had to be cancelled when a fight broke out between teams.

The under 21s seven-a-side matches at Grange Astro Turf were halted when teams from Coppice and Westwood came to blows during the group stages of the competition on Sunday.

Security staff — who were hired with the pitch — called off the tournament, which 140 players had entered.

But organisers from the forum believe they had the situation under control and simply wanted to disqualify the two teams involved from the contest.

Shafizur Rahman, forum chairman, said: “It kicked off but it only lasted about 30 seconds. There was a bit of pushing but nothing serious. The teams apologised to each other in the changing rooms.

“Now the players are angry with us because they think we cancelled it, but the decision was out of our hands.

“We’re all volunteers but we were in control of the situation. Now we have to try to sort something out with Odham Community Leisure (OCL) — or find another pitch to finish the games.”

Mike Tait, assistant chief executive at OCL, which manages the pitch, said the behaviour on the day was completely unacceptable.

He added: “My staff are very experienced and we have seen incidents like this before.

“What happened is unfortunate but I back them 100 per cent in their decision to stop the games.

“The general safety of all players was our main concern and there were fears this would escalate into something a lot bigger.

“We understand that in football things sometimes get heated, but when people are coming on to the pitch from the side lines, that is something we will not tolerate.”

He added that he would be meeting the organisers to help them minimise risks of future clashes and to insist that they get more organised and have stricter control over behaviour.

OCL is looking to set up a partnership with the youth forum, following the success of Oldham Athletic Community Trust’s youth project, Kickz.